The Auction

Traces of lived lives 

A deceased estate is to be auctioned off. Unfortunately, there are no bidders. Objects from someone else's lived life have little interest in the age of materialism. When they have also lost their practical function and sentimental value, they are reduced to scrap. 

But can one still coax a soul out of the inanimate? Can one invent new memories? And can reuse be a golden opportunity to return to something more tactile and tangible in everyday life, something more real? 

New dance and music 

The Auction is an associative fable about objects we recognize, yet no longer have a relationship with. Through abstract dance and newly composed music, the audience is invited to dig up their own memories – and perhaps create new ones over the course of the performance. 

As a modest tribute to the past, the performance can also be experienced as a commentary on today's material overconsumption. 

A different side of Jo Strømgren Kompani 

Within Jo Strømgren Kompani’s wide-ranging repertoire, The Auction is an entirely new bloom. While the company usually emphasizes storytelling, often infused with humour and theatricality, this time they present a meditative journey into association and contemplation. 

The performance is a collaboration with the Trondheim Chamber Music Festival and Bergmund Waal Skaslien, initiator of the work’s theme and concept, and the company’s composer of nearly 30 years.